But the people who know their God will display strength and take action (Daniel 11: 32b, NASB)
I just finished watching the Men’s US Open tournament at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. I don’t know any of the players personally, but I still root for and take interest in certain players’ careers. Especially those who publicly profess and follow Christ, I know of them, but I don’t know them. And they don’t know me.
One of the greatest reasons to study the Bible is to get to know it’s Author. The Lord used about forty men of varying occupations over a period of approximately fifteen hundred years. The canon of Scripture was written in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Yet, Jesus Christ is the great theme and central figure throughout. The Bible has one supreme author – God’s Holy Spirit.
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But we don’t have the option to create our own god. God defines himself, and he does so in Scripture.
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If we knew God in a deeper way and understood more of what he is like, we would love and praise him more. But how do you trust someone you don’t know? How do you think God’s thoughts after him if you don’t know how he thinks?
Knowing God does not mean knowing about him like I do some of the tour players. It does not merely mean having a lot of facts about God’s attributes. It means much more than that. Knowing God means knowing God “with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.” It refers to knowing him with our soul, emotions, intellect, and will.
It means taking the Word of God seriously. I have had people say to me, “My God does this, or my God would never do that”. But we don’t have the option to create our own god. God defines himself, and he does so in Scripture. Genesis 1:26 tells us that we have been created in his image. He has not been created in ours.
Theology is the study of God. Whether we know it or not, we all have a personal theology—what we believe about God. This theology may or may not be biblical. Whether we are aware of it or not, how we live our lives reflects our theology, which is our view of God. Our walk with the Lord will be directly affected by our knowledge and understanding of the Almighty God.
John Piper is certainly right when he writes, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him.” Are you satisfied in God? Are you pleased and content in your knowledge of him? Do you know him well enough to be satisfied in Jesus?
This contentment is what brings the “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:6). That trust is what brings glory to him. The satisfaction we as Christians find in our relationship with the Savior attracts unbelievers to the Lord.
In John 17, Jesus prays to his Father just before he was betrayed and arrested. In verse 3, he prays, “Now this is eternal life: that they [those the Father had given him] may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” I had always thought that eternal life is a time frame. But this verse teaches that eternal life is a relationship with the living God. Knowing God is about knowing him with our soul, emotions, intellect, and will.
Prayer: Father, help us see our need to know you deeply. Let us lay aside preconceived ideas of who you are. Give us a hunger and thirst for the truth of your word as we press on to know you.